Sunday, June 26, 2pm, Franklin Park [near the Franklin Park Adventure Center], 1755 E. Broad St.

SURJCO exists to organize white people in Central Ohio to take anti-racist action. Interested in getting more involved?? Come meet new people and learn about SURJCO at our summer kick-off meetup on Sunday, June 26. This event is open to the public and is kid friendly. If you plan to attend, please fill out this form so we have an idea of how many people to expect [forms.gle/PPSKcCHKPAm6c2jv6]. Please share widely!

When: Sunday, June 26; 2pm

Where: Franklin Park; meet by the Franklin Park Adventure Center; 1755 E. Broad St.

What to bring: Bring your own snack and drink and a blanket or chair to sit on!

RSVP for this event by using this link.

 Ignorance might be bliss, arguably in some situations, but not in this case. Here, ignorance can be catastrophic as western audiences are denied access to information about a critical situation that is affecting them in profound ways and will most certainly impact the world’s geopolitics for generations to come. 

We have chosen the Goodale Park Parimeter for the Walk for Health Care Justice this year. It will take place during ComFest, occurring in the Park, making our presence visible to hundreds of people as we walk.  We hope to have announcements about our action from one or more of the ComFest Stages, asking for other people to join us.

We invite you, family and friends to participate in this 1 mile walk for Health Care Justice. It will take less than 1 hour.

We will meet before 4 PM on the North-East corner of Goodale Park, at the intersection of Park Street and Buttles Avenue, begin will a few words and walk clockwise around the Park. If you have a SPAN Ohio T-shirt and sign, please bring them. We will have some signs available.  Bring a noisemaker.

This is a SPAN Ohio Fund Raising event. You may donate whatever you can, and ask others to sponsor you for the walk. Last year we raised about $1,700 during walking on North High Street.

Part Two (of Four)

In the shadows of democracy (cont’d.)

City Council appointments and elections

The process of filling public offices, especially City Council, is a key element in the reproduction of undemocracy from one iteration of office-holders to their successors. The city boosters in the media never comment on this.

Until the election of Elizabeth Brown in 2015 (reelected in 2019), no Council member had been elected without first being appointed to office since Mary Ellen O’Shaunassey in 1995. In 2019, Brown did not even complete nonpartisan Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

More recently, Shayla Favor and Rob Dorans gained their seats by submitting 500-word essays and resumes. They were not elected to office

These appointees, including mayors, typically rise from their “holding pens” (to quote one long-time civic activist) or school practice yards in the Franklin County Board of Elections, Columbus Board of Education, or minor City positions. They do not join the ranks of the rulers first by popular election.

Friday, June 24 to Sunday, June 26, this on-line event requires advance registration

We’re a coalition of organizations and individuals working together to host A Radical Gathering — a virtual space for cultivating the world we all deserve.

A Radical Gathering will happen online the weekend of June 24-26 and will include a series of teach-ins, workshops, trainings, presentations, and panels, covering a myriad of revolutionary and visionary topics.

When we say the gathering is “radical,” we mean that it is for

• Getting at the roots of problems

• Thinking outside the realm of what we’ve been taught to believe is possible

• Exploring big questions and unsettling truths

The gathering is a chance to learn and teach each other, to meet other people doing their part of the work, and to practice some skills we’ll surely need. As we continue to move further into climate collapse and through other violent impacts of global capitalism and colonialism, those of us who have vision should gather, share, and practice together.

Will you join us and see where this goes from here?